Community comes out to celebrate Truro Farmers Market Week

TRURO – Kirsty Gracy Chamberland is in Truro for the summer visiting family, and says the farmer’s market is the ideal place for her to run into familiar faces.

Joanna Burris works the Kittelsen Kids honey booth at Truro Farmer’s Market Saturday, the first day of Farmer’s Market Week in Nova Scotia. She has worked as a vendor at the booth since the beginning of summer and thinks the market is a great place to see what the community has to offer.

“I’ve run into people here I haven’t seen for years and years,” said Chamberland.

“And it’s so great. There’s a lot of fresh local produce and good wine and really nice products here.”

The Ottawa resident just happened to be in town for the start of Farmer’s Market Week, a Farmer’s Markets of Nova Scotia initiative to highlight the benefits farmers’ markets provide for their communities.

The event kicked off Saturday at the Truro Farmers Market with live music, sidewalk chalk drawings, pony rides and traditional Henna painting.

Chamberland’s seven-year-old daughter, Grace, got a Henna tattoo on her wrist and said she’d be back with her mom next week for a face painting.

Over at the other end of the market, the Dueck family was having a busy morning at their produce stand. The Dueck’s have seven acres in Upper Kennecook where they grow beets, carrots, onions, sugar snap peas and a variety of other plants. They have had a stand at the Truro Farmer’s Market for 28 years.

Tony Dueck is 28-years old and grew up in the family business. He says he’s grateful for the market because it gives him, as a producer, the opportunity to bring his products straight to the consumer.

“Freshness is the biggest thing,” he said. His farm is about 35 kilometres away and his vegetables come straight from the ground and into the shopping bags of his customers.

As a farmer, July and August are his busiest months and he estimate he, his sisters, his wife and his mother put in 200 hours per week harvesting all of their vegetables.

Inside the Truro Fire Hall, kids from God’s Backyard Christian Bible Camp were giving away free chocolate bars and water, hoping to recruit some kids to go to camp with them next weekend.

Oliver Locke helps organize the camp and came up with the idea to use the market to get noticed in the community.

“We decided to set up here because a lot of families come out and lots of kids do too,” explained Locke.

“And that is really who we’re trying to reach.”

Locke said he’s gotten a fair bit of interest in the camp through the farmer’s market and he’s been recognized at other events for his time at the market, so he thinks the effort he and his group has put in is worth it.

Joanna Burris works as a vendor at the Kittilsen Kids honey booth and she agrees there’s nothing like the farmer’s market in terms of supporting local products and services.

“It’s just a great place for people to come see what the community has to offer,” said the vendor, who also loves to frequent the market.